Par Beryl Wajsman le 18 juin 2009

Recently we witnessed the fifth Israel Apartheid Week manifestations. In cities from Oxford to New York to Montreal we saw the usual collection of Islamist apologists and their fellow-travelers in academic, political and diplomatic circles. These events sought to portray Israel as an apartheid-era South Africa in relation to its Arab citizens...

Par l'Hon. Irwin Cotler le 18 juin 2009

Keynote Address by the Honourable Irwin Cotler at the founding conference of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA) Professor Cotler is the co-founder of ICCA with UK MP John Mann. He is the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and is the Liberal MP for the Montreal riding of Mount Royal.

Par David Solway le 18 juin 2009

The recent outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hamas should give us an opportunity to reflect, once again, not only on the current belligerents, but on the role of the obligatory third party to the conflict. I refer to the ground troops of the armies of the liberal-left, aka the Western media, who inevitably tilt the balance of the war they are “covering” in favor of their confederates or, what amounts to the same thing, against the side they reprove. Thus, from the media’s squint-eyed parallax, Hamas is more sinned against than sinning and Israel is either wholly, largely or, at best, equally responsible for the “renewal” of violence in the region...

Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 18 juin 2009

It is a challenge to address the stark issues posed by the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. One difficulty is that too many in my own spiritual community (Christian) stood by during the worst catastrophe in all of recorded history.There were exceptions-some famous, some virtually unknown—but most Christians in Europe and elsewhere, including Canada, did not do enough to love and care for our Jewish neighbours as ourselves. Another is drawing two effective lessons from the Holocaust of practical use today in Canada and elsewhere...

Par Beryl Wajsman le 18 juin 2009

Yesterday, the 14th of May, was the 60th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel. Last week, some 15,000 Montrealers marched downtown to celebrate that event on its date on the Jewish calendar. They were not all Jews. They were from many different religious, creeds and races. What brought them together was a fidelity to the struggle of a small, lone democracy surrounded by a sea of tyranny to remain free. The frontline nation in the family of free nations facing an existential threat from Islamist fundamentalism as dangerous as any other ism western civilization has faced in the past one hundred years. This event should have a special resonation for all Quebecers. Because the best of our institutional memory makes us understand the price of liberty better than many...

Par David Solway le 18 juin 2009

In his 1995 book [1] Assimilation and Its Discontents, Israeli political historian and prolific author Barry Rubin speaks of a time when “anti-Semitism became too minimal to inspire fear or defiance.” Indeed, for both the Israeli sabra and the diaspora Jew, particularly in America, “anti-Semitism’s rout and the acquisition of equality … raises the question of what to do next.” Only a little more than a decade has passed since Rubin wrote those lines but the “question of what to do next” has taken on a completely different complexion. For once again anti-Semitism has returned with a vengeance...

Par Beryl Wajsman le 18 juin 2009

It was the images as much as the issues that got to you. You couldn’t intellectualize in your own mind what you were seeing. You wanted to ask the demonstrators questions. You wanted to ask why they are not protesting the Hamas murder of some 20,000 opponents in Gaza. You wanted to ask them why they had never protested the murders of thousands, tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of Muslims by fellow Muslims in Chechnya, in Iraq, in Somalia and in Darfur...

Par The Hon. David Kilgour le 28 mai 2009

While in Shanghai recently, Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon correctly noted that Canada can keep its “principled position” on human dignity while pursuing trade with China. Principles and reality, however, should have kept him from saying that his hosts”had made progress” on human rights. He ought to know that basic rights for the most vulnerable among the Chinese people are worsening today...

Par David T. Jones le 28 mai 2009

Washington, DC - There are basic needs for human beings: the obvious are food; shelter; sex. And then it becomes complicated for societies where the basics are “givens,” and needs become more abstract. Are the freedoms enumerated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (and the U.S. Constitution) “freedoms”—or limitations on the actions that a citizen might take otherwise?

Freedom of speech—but at what point does it become slander?Freedom of the press—but what are the parameters of libel, let alone “hate” when making such speech?Freedom of religion—but to practice polygamy, let alone human sacrifice?

Par Nazanin Afshin-Jam le 6 mai 2009

On May 1st 2009, artist Delara Darabi was executed in the Islamic Republic of Iran after spending almost six years in prison for an alleged offence committed at age 17. She maintained her innocence up until the very end. I am at a loss for words. My heart is empty and my tears are flowing...

Par Beryl Wajsman le 6 mai 2009

Though we can’t be surprised anymore, we still need to condemn. The World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, commonly called Durban 2, concluded recently in Geneva. Durban I, eight years ago, at least had the veneer of civility however quickly disabused by the contents. This year’s incarnation didn’t even pretend. How could it? Two gangster regimes — Iran and Libya — co-chaired and co-organized it. The result was as anticipated. But the date was filled with pathos...

Par Pierre Poilievre le 6 mai 2009

We Canadians are often too polite to say, “I told you so.” But 16 months after we told the world that the Durban “anti-racism” conference was anything but, we have been vindicated. Canada was the first nation to pull out of the Durban II conference and to cut off funds for NGO participation. Countries like Italy, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Israel and the United States of America followed us. Many other nations later walked out of the conference when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad poured verbal acid all over Israel, the United States and Europe...

Par Mischa Popoff le 6 mai 2009

How does B.H. Obama get away with it? He directed his campaign against George W. Bush, accusing him of taking the United States into an unjust war in Iraq, but now plans to launch a renewed effort in Afghanistan. I’m confused. Aren’t freedom, innocent people’s lives and democracy all worth protecting in both of those countries?

Par David Solway le 6 mai 2009

In his 1995 book [1] Assimilation and Its Discontents, Israeli political historian and prolific author Barry Rubin speaks of a time when “anti-Semitism became too minimal to inspire fear or defiance.” Indeed, for both the Israeli sabra and the diaspora Jew, particularly in America, “anti-Semitism’s rout and the acquisition of equality … raises the question of what to do next.” Only a little more than a decade has passed since Rubin wrote those lines but the “question of what to do next” has taken on a completely different complexion. For once again anti-Semitism has returned with a vengeance...

Par Jessica Murphy le 9 avril 2009

Afghanistan is a mess - increasingly violent, facing major hurdles in development and a severe food shortage - but according to a panel of experts lined up by the Canadian International Council, NATO needs to see its engagement through...

Par Beryl Wajsman le 9 avril 2009

It was a mistake from the beginning to allow the recognition of state faith into Afghanistan’s constitution. It was an even greater error to allow the organization of faith-based political parties. Now the west’s encounter with Afghanistan will be put to an important test. And Canada has a profound role to play.

Fundamentalist Shia clerics in Afghanistan pushed for the primacy of Sharia law, and exclusivity of it in family law matters. Not satisfied with this, they recently demanded, and obtained passage of what has come to be pejoratively called Afghanistan’s “Rape Law”.

Par Akil Alleyne le 9 avril 2009

So President Barack Obama has delivered yet another stirring speech to a vast crowd of European well-wishers, this time in Prague, Czech Republic, on April 5th. This time, however, he threw his fans something of a curveball. President Obama made clear that he would not scrap the ongoing development of a nuclear missile defense shield. “As long as the threat from Iran persists,” he declared, “we will go forward with a missile-defense system that is cost-effective and proven.”..

Par Beryl Wajsman le 19 mars 2009

Recently we witnessed the fifth Israel Apartheid Week manifestations. In cities from Oxford to New York to Montreal we saw the usual collection of Islamist apologists and their fellow-travelers in academic, political and diplomatic circles. These events sought to portray Israel as an apartheid-era South Africa in relation to its Arab citizens...

Par David T. Jones le 19 mars 2009

Par Beryl Wajsman le 26 février 2009

Over 100 parliamentarians from 35 different countries gathered in in London from February 15-17th for the founding conference of the International Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Anti-Semitism (ICCA) hosted by the UK Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Anti-Semitism and the Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

Par ICCA le 26 février 2009

"I am pleased that the British Foreign Office hosted the founding Summit of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism. The event brought together 125 MPs from 40 different counties and led to this important/powerful? Declaration that I’m honoured to sign today. So many of the principles it enshrines are already things we are doing here in Britain and while I’m proud of the bold action Britain has taken to combat anti-Semitism such as improved reporting, prosecutions for antisemitic internet hate and the funding of Holocaust Education in schools, there is no room for complacency. Within a month the DCLG are organising for an away day event at Beth Shalom, the Holocaust Centre, to look in detail at how the Government can implement the London Declaration. I encourage other Heads of Government to become signatories to this historic agreement - together our renewed efforts can rid the world of this ancient virus."

Par l'Hon. Irwin Cotler le 26 février 2009

Keynote Address by the Honourable Irwin Cotler at the founding conference of the Inter-parliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA)Professor Cotler is the co-founder of ICCA with UK MP John Mann. He is the former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada and is the Liberal MP for the Montreal riding of Mount Royal...

Par David Simard le 5 février 2009

The Democrats have retaken the White House after eight long years of soul-searching. I look upon this historic occasion with all the hopes and dreams of my generation. However, to believe that one man can change the world is perhaps dangerous. There are no saviours, but certain politicians can push history in the right direction...

Par Robert Presser le 5 février 2009

Many around the world celebrated as they watched the inauguration festivities in Washington DC. Barack Obama warned Americans that the challenges they face as a nation are numerous and grave, requiring individual sacrifice and difficult choices to plot a path back to prosperity. While he spent a few minutes speaking to the world, he avoided asking them for their contribution to America’s renewal; the purchase of $5 trillion of new US debt to cover a half decade of enormous budget deficits.,,

Par David T. Jones le 5 février 2009

One of life's lessons is that no man stands so tall as when he puts the monkey on some one else's back.Appreciating that sobriquet, "Bush 43" jets into history (or at least to Crawford Texas), and a chattering troop of simians have seated themselves on President Obama's shoulders.Caging them, throttling them, or just enduring them are now the Democrats problem as for the first time since 1992, the Democrats control both the Congress and the Presidency...